Provincial Legal Officer and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Atty. Dennis Ventilacion said he will not issue a public apology to former Governor Niel Tupas Sr on what the latter called as "malicious insinuation" with regard the purchase of two Volvo graders during his administration in 2006.

Tupas earlier said that the cost of the heavy equipment depends on the prevailing foreign exchange rate (Peso vs. U.S. dollar) at the time of the transaction, thus, motor graders bought in 2006 when the dollar costs P51.30 are expensive compared to the ones bought in 2011 by the present administration when the dollar went down to P43.30.

With this, Tupas said he wants Ventilacion "to issue a public apology for the baseless and malicious insinuation he made to the media through the Public Information Office (PIO). I view it as a desperate effort to malign my name and reputation and divert the public's mind from the issue of the upsurge in electricity bill payments of the Iloilo Capitol under this administration."

But, Ventilacion said that he will not issue an apology because Tupas based his statement on the wrong quotation.

He added that the purchase of two Volvo graders by the previous administration was not quoted in foreign currency but in peso, citing the Purchase Order which covered the purchase of the two Volvo motor graders with a per unit cost of P10,217,025 million or a total of P20,434,050 million.

"So, Tupas should not compare the value of the stock market because his statement is very irrelevant," he said. He added that during the bidding, bidders have the option to either bid foreign currency or in peso.

On the other hand, the Defensor administration claimed it bought the same brand of graders from the same supplier, Civic Merchandising Inc.

The equipment is more upgraded and each unit costs P9.680 million or a total of P19.360 million for two units.

Ventilacion said the province has saved almost P537,000 from each unit or a total of P 1,074,000 million.

"The irregularity we have found is not about our private or personal lives but part of public service that we have to investigate in line with our reform in the procurement process," he said.

Ventilacion said they are still analyzing the documents. Once they can prove that the law has been violated, the Provincial Government will file a case against those involved.

"Those who were involved in the transaction are still here in Iloilo so it is easy for us to summon them," he ended.*